FALMOUTH — Families of nursing home residents and workers are reeling from a decision to close Falmouth Center in two months.

"I'm heartbroken, heartbroken," Judy Dugas, of Falmouth, said as she left the skilled nursing and rehabilitation center Tuesday with her dog, Barkley. Dugas visits the Jones Road nursing home, located next door to Morse Pond School, regularly to see her mother, an Alzheimer's patient who has lived there for the past three years.

"The employees here are so kind, gentle and thoughtful," she said.

Those employees — 85 full-time, eight part-time and 26 per diem employees — were told along with the facility's 75 patients Tuesday that Genesis HealthCare LLC, the Pennsylvania-based owner, has successfully filed with the state Department of Public Health to close the nursing home as of May 12.

Mary Jane Costa, of Falmouth, whose mother has been a resident of the nursing home for two years, speculated that a recent vote by nurses to unionize contributed to the decision to close. "That's the reason, trust me," Costa said as she smoked a cigarette with an unidentified employee of the nursing home. "My heart goes out to all the people who have been here for years," she said.

Several employees approached in the parking lot as they left work for the day declined to comment.

A message left with the director of the Falmouth facility Tuesday morning was returned by the corporate spokesman.

"For strategic business reasons and due to the highly competitive Cape Cod long-term care market, Genesis HealthCare has made the difficult decision to close the Falmouth Center," Jeanne Moore, a spokesman for the company, said in a prepared statement.

Moore declined to comment on whether the nurses joining a union affected the decision to close, saying the reason was outlined in the company statement.

Falmouth Center was purchased by Genesis along with other properties from Sun Healthcare in December 2012 for $8.50 per share of common stock for a total price of $215 million, making it one of the largest skilled nursing providers in the country, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. After the acquisition, Genesis had more than 400 facilities employing nearly 80,000 employees and annual revenue of $4.6 billion, according to a press release that was part of the filings.

Genesis scheduled meetings with both patients and employees to discuss the closing timetable and other health care options, according to Moore's statement. "We will work personally with each family to make the transition as smooth as possible and will continue our excellent patient care activities during this process until all of our residents are transferred safely," she wrote.

Costa attended one of Tuesday's meetings. "It was the most saddest thing anyone could want to witness," she said. "Residents were saying, 'We're all family. We're not going to get sent to the same place.'"

The nursing staff will also be missed, she said. "They're like family to them," Costa said.

The state will oversee placements, Anne Roach, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Health, said in an email.

"DPH and the state's long-term care ombudsman will monitor the facility and ensure that an appropriate placement for each rest home resident is found prior to closure," Roach wrote. Federal regulations required two months notice to the residents and their families, she wrote. She declined further comment citing patient privacy.

Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands will be on hand to help residents and their families, Cheryl Gayle, director of the ombudsman program, said. "We're already in nursing homes on a regular basis," she said. "We'll increase our presence to ensure the rights of residents are adhered to."

In her six years as an ombudsman, Gayle said no other nursing facilities on the Cape have closed. "I'm sure it was very emotional," she said. "This is the permanent home of many of these residents and they were just told they have to leave those homes."

Costa said she plans to bring her mother home, at least temporarily. "We'll see how that goes," she said.

Dugas said she already had a discussion with her brother and planned to start looking for a new place for her mother Tuesday afternoon.

"I don't want to go out of town," she said. "I feel like I need to get her safe, quickly."

Genesis owns another nursing home in Mashpee. In a follow-up email, Moore said the Mashpee Center on Route 28 would be offered to residents and families seeking alternative care plans. She did not say whether employees would be offered jobs at the Mashpee facility.

The building and property at 359 Jones Road is assessed at $3.4 million and the facility has 125 bedrooms, according to town assessor's records.

Representatives for the SEIU, the Cape's largest union, did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

Several jobs for the Falmouth Center continued to be advertised on the Genesis website as of Tuesday afternoon, including a medical director to be shared between Falmouth and Mashpee, several nursing positions, a recreation director and an occupational therapist.